A former district treasurer for the state’s amateur hockey association has been accused of tax evasion because he allegedly embezzled money from the group and didn’t report it as income.

Steven Brier, 55, of Oakdale was named in the charge filed by federal prosecutors. He has a court hearing set for Dec. 17 in St. Paul.

Brier “deeply regrets” his actions and will plead guilty to the charge, his lawyer said.

The former insurance agent once served as treasurer for District 2 of what is now known as Minnesota Hockey, the group that governs youth and amateur hockey play in Minnesota. The federal charge says he underreported his 2010 income by the $74,473 that he embezzled from the organization, then called the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association.

A Maplewood police detective who is familiar with the case said hundreds of thousands of dollars was believed missing.

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, an assistant U.S. attorney filed a document known as an “information,” which indicates a plea deal has been worked out and prosecutors won’t ask a grand jury for an indictment.

The charge is for a single count of tax evasion. Although the charging document says Brier “embezzled” the money, he has not been charged with any theft-related offense in federal or state court.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the case and would not say whether other charges were contemplated.

Brier’s attorney, Kevin Short, said his client “has never, until now, even been accused of a crime.”

“He deeply regrets his conduct that resulted in the recent federal charges against him,” Short said. “He will plead guilty at the earliest opportunity and continue to do everything he can to make amends for his conduct.”

Short declined to comment further.

Minnesota Hockey’s president, Dave Margenau, did not return a call for comment. District 2’s director, Michelle Merth, and its current treasurer, David Benck, could not be reached for comment.

Minnesota Hockey is an affiliate of USA Hockey. Its website says that it is “the premier developer of hockey players in the state” and that its volunteers have been developing and promoting the sport in Minnesota since 1947.

The state organization is divided into 16 districts; District 2, where Brier had served as treasurer, is based in Oakdale.

An official with the district told Oakdale police about irregularities with the organization’s funds, according to a police incident report filed Sept. 30, 2011.

The official said he had been notified by Bremer Bank “of suspicious activity on (the) association’s account,” according to the incident report.

Brier is not named in the report.

“Suspect is treasurer and has been writing checks to self, endorsing checks and cashing checks since 2009,” the document said. “Suspect has been removed from account by bank.”

The brief synopsis in the public portion of the report doesn’t say how much money was involved. Nor does it say for how long the alleged activity — which police listed as “embezzlement of public funds” — had been going on.

Oakdale police investigated, then referred the case to Maplewood police because that is where the bank is located. By then, most of the legwork had been done, said Maplewood police Lt. Dave Kvam.

“Our detective didn’t have much to do,” Kvam said. “But he did make contact with the feds. The IRS has taken over.”

Kvam said hundreds of thousands of dollars were suspected missing.

“For a hockey association, that’s an awful lot of money,” said Scott Gray, Minnesota Hockey’s vice president for publicity and promotion.

Gray said he didn’t know specifics of the case, but “I do recall there was a time when District 2 was having financial difficulties.”

The parent organization, Minnesota Hockey Inc., is based in St. Paul and is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. On the IRS Form 990 that it filed for the fiscal year from September 2010 to August 2011, it reported gross receipts of more than $1.9 million and expenses of almost $1.9 million.

The organization reported that the bulk of its income, $1.5 million, came from player registration and “program service revenue.” It got another $382,000 in contributions and grants. (The Minnesota Wild professional hockey club says on its website that the pro team’s foundation is “the largest non-member funding source for Minnesota Hockey.”)

On the IRS form, the group said it has 51,700 registered youth hockey players.

Elizabeth Mohr came to the Pioneer Press in 2006 and has covered education, public safety, city and county governments and courts. She's done stints as a weekend reporter and as an online breaking news reporter. In 2014, she took over the Ramsey County and federal court beat, as well as archdiocese coverage. Mohr is a South Dakota native and a University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) graduate.

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